Monday, August 16, 2010

I missed you!

I think all my awesome guest bloggers deserve a big round of internet applause! Thank you all for writing posts, giving us some inspiration, and allowing me a nice little break! My time off from blogging has been relaxing but there have been times I've had to force myself not to throw in a post about this or that. I've missed you all!

The downside to BlogHer...

Everyone has been asking me about BlogHer '10 so I'm finally back to give you a recap and share some New York City pictures. Honestly this might not make a whole lot of sense. I loved going to BlogHer and would go back to another conference in a heartbeat. But...it did give me very mixed feelings about the blogging community. The people I ate breakfast with that first morning were awesome. Loved them! We talked about real life and laughed about how some of us are just too lazy to even pay someone else to set up a WordPress blog platform for us. On the other hand...most of what I saw at BlogHer was bloggers gossiping about other bloggers. Or jamming their blog business cards down my throat not to make a connection but simply to get followers. It annoyed the daylights out of me because I just didn't expect that. I thought women who pay that much money for the conference tickets would be going for more of a reason than just to increase their numbers but the ones I came in contact with (after breakfast) seemed to be set on that. If that is what blogging means to them--oh well. If it were just about numbers and attention (online of all places) for me then it just wouldn't be worth it.

Another thing I didn't really love was that I couldn't find a lot of young bloggers or small-moderate blogs. Most of the conversations I had (again, after breakfast) went like this: "WHO DO YOU BLOG FOR? HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU MAKE FROM BLOGGING? WHO ARE YOUR SPONSORS? OH SO YOU ARE A MOM? WHY DON'T YOU HAVE A BIG MOM BLOG? OH...YOU'RE A MILITARY BLOGGER. I'M SORRY. WELL, HERE'S MY CARD. FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER AND SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG. NICE MEETING YOU!" And yes, they were almost always yelling. I'm proud not to have a mom blog. I don't have any problem with those, that's just not my thing. And I really don't need people to feel sorry for me because I blog about military life. I'm proud to blog about something apparently so unpopular.

I saw a very shallow blogging community. I know that doesn't represent everyone there but it just happened to be the part that I experienced. Like I said before though...I'd go back.

The best part of BlogHer '10 was the International Activist Bloggers who spoke on Saturday Morning. In my opinion they should have skipped the Swag Bags and sessions and just had these ladies on the stage for 48 hours. These incredible women actually risk their lives to blog about issues in their countries. They expose corrupt governments and speak out for people who aren't given any voice at all. Listening to their stories put so many things in perspective for me. I get a little annoyed that I can't post certain pictures or tell the whole internet world exactly how awesome my G.I. Joe truly is but I have no stinkin' clue what true censorship is like. OPSEC isn't censorship, its just good sense. If I can "stand here" and type exactly what I think about America, its military, the religion of its majority and give this White House administration a few choice words then I've got it good. People around the world can be snatched from their homes at night because of something they write. And we complain about not being able to vent! My life is great. I have more freedom than I know what to do with and will probably never know what its like to have my basic human rights violated. The women I got to hear speak are risking their lives even in America but they use blogging to do beautiful things. They made the whole conference worth it. I'm so thankful Blue Star Families gave me the opportunity to attend!

Now that I'm done ranting its time for some pictures!! I will probably post more pics later. Its insane how many we took just in the 48 hours we were in the city.

"I got Mommy's mate-up baeg! Wet's go!"

"NEW YULK! NEW YULK!" She definitely cried when we checked out.

2 Year Old Heaven.

We stayed at the Algonquin Hotel and got to sit at the Round Table. It was incredible to be right in the midst of all that literary and journalistic history.

I just adored this man's expression. He's so happy.

Really random but cool BlogHer '10 highlight:

I got to hang out with celebrity stylist Rebecca Weinberg!

She's incredibly sweet and so much fun.

When she showed me this vintage Pendleton Wool blazer I told her my Grandma adores their brand.

22 comments:

Looks like you had fun! I miss NYC... we just came back at the end of July and I already want to go again!

Sadly, I've also noticed a recent increase in bloggers focused on gaining followers and advertising their blogs to an extent that it almost makes me NOT want to follow them. I like knowing that people read my blog, but it's not why I blog.

I'm sorry you didn't meet more of the bloggers there to meet people and have conversations, not increase numbers. I've noticed that military bloggers are often set apart, but I figure if just one person reads my blog and learns something new or a misconception they had about military life is dispelled, then I've done what I've set out to do.

Hey there, I'm a new follower and just wanted to say hi! Thanks for sharing your experiences from BlogHer; it's disappointing that there is so much "blog gossip" out there - we should all be supporting each other! But it looks like you definitely gained from the experience and I loved your pictures from the city (especially the cute old man!).

So glad you had a great time and we missed you too! I'm sorry that you had that negative experience with some if the bloggers. The point of having a blog is to connect with people that have similar interests and bring information and fun interaction into their lives - which is exactly what you do. And what's more is that your blog applies to women even outside of the military. My mom loves reading your blog - just because you're awesome, not for how many followers you have or what you're giving away next or if you have gigantic sponsors. You're you and you blog beautifully, and thats why we love you!!!

I'm so glad you finally posted! I had been looking for a recap! I wouldn't even know what to expect from a conference. It bothers me that some of the bloggers were like that to you. The best part of blogging is making friends out of it, not just having people follow me. And military blogs unpopular? Sigh, unfortunately I do believe that. Rachel just blogged about milspouses or widows having a reality show... what people acted like to you is sorta why I think there is no show like that. People don't want to know what's REAL. Thank goodness we have each other and all the awesome military community. Maybe we'll meet up at the milblogging conference next year!!!? xx

I would have been annoyed at other bloggers just trying to gain followers too. I would think the best part about going to BlogHer would be to meet other bloggers/make some new friends. I would never think about just trying to get more people to read my blog!

that is really upsetting about BlogHer....i started as therapy after losing Rosalynn, and then found the amazing military spuose community. I would go because i would want to make connections to these people i read about In Real Life....i would have had a blast hanging out with you!!! lol....it isn't about money or popularity, it is about reaching just those few people that may need to hear your words at that exact moment. Keep doin what you are doin, cause you definitely entertain me and make my day a little more brighter!!!Erin

Wonderful pictures! They are a great representation of NYC. Glad you had a good time at BlogHer...but that's definitely disappointing that you got that sort of reaction! People can be ignorant sometimes!

You got some great pictures in NYC!!! I think it's sad that so many bloggers are only focused on the numbers. But then, I suppose most bloggers don't have the kind of community that milspouse bloggers do. I'm glad you had a good time though. The guest posts were great, but we missed you too! =)

Thanks for sharing! I am sorry you saw that ugly side of blogging. I just don't get it. It completely undermines the reason for blogging. It is supposed to be a personal recount, journal, reflection, whatever you want to call it. It doesn't always have to be about numbers, money, popularity, etc.

I love the way you captured different parts of New York! Such beautiful pictures.

I'm glad you had a great trip, but I'm really bummed to hear about that side of BlogHer. I like your blog and other milspouse blogs because of the community it fosters. Once people start focusing on the numbers side of things, I can see how it would start getting superficial.